Praying at Home Today: Wednesday 23 September 2020
Praying at home today:
helping each other through words and gestures of kindness
A warm welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find worship resources for praying at home today or wherever you are.
We hope these readings, prayers, music and the short reflection will help you stay in touch with the Church and to sustain you on your journey through life.
If this is your first visit to this website, then you might like to read about the common elements and the suggested structure for each day’s prayer.
Everything is optional!
We follow the Track 2 “related” Old Testament reading and psalm (or equivalent response).
Opening to the Word
You can spend a few moments in silence,
focussing on your breathing
to become more mindful of the present moment
and to open yourself more fully
to God’s presence within you.
In the name of the living God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Short reading
Each one helps the other,
saying to one another, “Take courage!”Unusquisque proximo suo auxiliabitur,
et fratri suo dicet: Confortare.Ils s’aident mutuellement
et chacun dit à son frère: «Courage!»
Isaiah 41:6
The Liturgy of the Word *
Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all three if you have time.
One link to all three readings
Separate links to each reading
Short Reflection
Encourage one another
We’re living in difficult times, there’s no doubt about that!
As I write this, the four nations that make up the UK have each mandated safety measures to keep us as safe as possible in this time when the pandemic is surging again.
We are all connected, “no man is an island”, and we are in this together (even if some think they are above the law).
As we come to terms with a further loss of freedoms, we can all help by encouraging one another with a smile, with a kind word.
This is not simplistic. It’s not saying that life will be easy.
Isaiah’s words in the following verse make it clear that there is inherent hardship:
The artisan encourages the goldsmith,
and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, ‘It is good’;
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
Isaiah 41:7
The more we work at this together, the less time we will have to live with these restrictions and the safer we will be.
In these strange times, we are called to trust.
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Prayer Suggestions
As we commemorate the eighth-century Abbot Adamnan of Iona,
we pray for the Church
in our nation and in our world.
We pray today for those who live alone
and who have already spent so many months on their own.
We pray for those who are finding this time particularly challenging,
especially those whose livelihoods are at risk.
We pray with thanksgiving for all who bring hope and comfort.
(In Holy Trinity, Stirling, we pray today
for the Revd Val Nellist.)
We pray for all who have asked for our prayers.
a moment of silence
Pray for us all.
Music for reflection *
“Where God the Lord stands with us not”,
a paraphrase of Psalm 123 (124),
the theme of which is the need of help against raging enemies.
The Lord’s Prayer
We can say the Lord’s Prayer in any language or version we choose.
Here it is, in English, Latin and French.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen.
Pater noster, qui es in cælis;
sanctificatur nomen tuum:
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in tentationem:
sed libera nos a malo.
Quia tuum est regnum,
et potestas, et gloria, in saecula.
Amen.
Notre Père qui es aux cieux,
que ton nom soit sanctifié.
Que ton règne vienne.
Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offences
comme nous pardonnons aussi
à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,
mais délivre-nous du mal.
Car c’est à toi qu’appartiennent le règne,
la puissance et la gloire
pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.
Concluding prayer
God of tender care
we entrust our today and our tomorrow
to you, who is ever-present with us;
strengthen us by the power of your Holy Spirit
to confide in you
and stand firm for one another.
Amen.
Returning to the world
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Benedicamus Domino.
Deo gratias.
Thank you for joining us in praying at home.
Oremus pro invicem.
In these strange times, we are called to trust
* You can find more organ music from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling
on Alistair Warwick‘s website and on SoundCloud
There are several books by Brother Roger of the Taizé Community from many booksellers.
You can buy The Complete Chronicles of Narnia at Amazon
Other worship resources
Praying at Home Today: Acknowledgements
* Beginning with the week after Pentecost, the lectionary for weekdays is taken from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. Currently, we’re following the semi-continuous readings (Track 1).
In that lectionary, the readings are in the following order: Old Testament reading, Psalm, New Testament reading; we have changed the order to the more usual OT, Psalm and NT.
English Bible texts are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Latin Bible texts are from Biblia Sacra Vulgata, and are in the Public Domain.
French Bible texts are from Version Segond 21, copyright © 2007 Société Biblique de Genève by Société Biblique de Genève.
Images, unless otherwise stated, are from lockdown in Scotland, by Alistair Warwick.
Music engraved by The Art of Music.
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